The Grindstone of Friendship
Introduction All the group could see in front of them were the growing flames on the docks, people running in terror as some stayed behind to try and put it out. At that moment, Ray's instincts kicked in as he could sense the wild ferocity of a beast, wanting to destroy and consume. Ray's eyes followed the instinct as a roar could be heard near the fish-market. "Look's like the beast is hungry" Ray said with a serious tone. "Drake's rarely attack for food....This is a mid-raid snack....." Said Markus as he requiped his mask, armor and sword. "Adrian....You and Freyja help the people.....Me, Ray and Ellena will hold off the Drake....Be careful the drakes does have cults following them...." Markus rushed off using his sword to make a break in the flame. Ellena followed while Freyja rushed off towards the burning town. Adrian quickly ran right through as well, following Frejya to help out with making sure everyone in the city was safe. Ray focused his Fire Magic, causing the flames to be absorbed into his hands, as he quickly sensed the shadow of the beast near him, sending the fire ball at him. Markus instantly lept into the air intercepting the fireball with his sword and while channeling his own magic through the sword sent a lightning coated fireball at the dragon hitting it square in i'ts crimson scale in the middle of it's chest. "I love this sword...." Said Markus as he landed next to Ray and Ellena. "Thanks to a special enchantment my sword can absorb and utilize magic.....So I can send fireballs, lightning bolts and water blasts right back to their original casters." "Makes the fight just a bit easier." Smirked Ellena as she drew her two pistols and opened up with light bullets. "Guys, start making moves!! This will really annoy him soon!" Ray focused his flames, creating small flaming butterflies as they flew right to the beast, which it responded by trying to attack it, only succeeding in creating a larger inferno that surrounded the beast as it began to roar in pain from the burning. "Ray do me a favor....Hit me with a fire spell i'm gonna need my alternate Slayer Magic for this i think...." Said Markus as he sent his sword away. "This guy is an old Drake.....So he's gonna be very difficult to beat in the end." Meanwhile Freyja and Adrian were guiding remaining towns people to safety. They managed to block off some of the fire to keep a route to the docks clear. Ray nodded, focusing as much of his fire as he possibly could and sent it right towards Markus in a form of a Flaming Breath. Markus took the attack and the fire around him slowly vanished into his body. Suddenly Markus took the form known as Burning Storm Drive. As both the fire and lightning in his body enhanced his capabilities he lept forward and began to attack the Drake bringing it down to ground level. "Ok lets give this a go Burning Lightning Bolt!!" Markus fired a fire coated lightning bolt at the Drake causing a huge explosion. The Drake however was hardly injured. "Well bugger...." "You think your magic can hurt me?!" Said the Drake as he stood on his rear legs. "I am Brencha the crinsom Drake Lord!" "Yeah yeah....I care not!" Said Markus diffiantly. "You've attacked innocent people....Your my prey today!" Markus took up his fighting stance and teleported at the Drake and landed a powerful strike to his right knee which let out a thundering crack. "Ohhh that hurt...." Cringed Ellena as she watched Markus. Just as Markus leanded back in his orignal spot the dragon attacked sending Markus flying through several buildings. "Markus!" Ray yelled as suddenly his body began to release off some of the limiters that Sensei had placed on him, causing him to go into Immersion as he quickly summoned up both his Fire and Light Magic, merging them to form a incredibly hot ball of energy, which he threw at the beast with no time to waste. The beast countered with his breath stopping the attack in it's tracks, his breath however carried on only to be stopped by Markus who reappeared heavily injured but still able to fight. "That.....Hurt....." He said in pain. "I'll be fine in afew ninutes but this guy is a strong as he lets himself on....Ellena! Plan Star!" "Got it!" Shouted Ellena as she rushed off to climb the tail of the beast. "I'm gonna hate this part...." Ellena started to climb as fast as she could without getting too injured but the thrashing tail. Markus however tried to distract the beast with powerful flaming lighting attacks. Ray knew that they needed another distraction, which he gave by surrounding himself in the Nova Magic, jumping right at Drake, slamming hard into his stomach. The attack landed causing a huge burn to appear on the near diamond hard scales which caused the beast to scream in pain. Which in turn caused it to thrash his tail more. "Ray!! Stop! My job is ahrd enough as it is!!!" Shouted Ellena panicing and trying to hold on for dear life. "By the Wings! Thats some power!...." Exclaimed Markus as he lifted a near by boulder with his magic. "A dual-element magic....Whats it called?" The beast then tried to attack Ray with it's talon, the attack was blocked by Markus' boulder to a rpessure point between the thumb and index finger. Ray quickly countered by creating a large flash bang of light, blinding the beast. "Nice work now follow up with it!" Said Markus as he unleashed one of his more devastating attacks. sending hundreds of small lightning bolts and fireballs hitting the front of the beast causing serious damage and burning some areas. "Storm Phoenix Secret Art, Revision: Blazing Phoenix Storm......Feel the flames of hell..." Markus gestured to Ray to attack at the beast's other knee so Ellena can attack a weakpoint at the shoulder. Ray nodded as he quickly ran over to Drake's knee, focusing his magic hard into his fist, and punched it causing it to buckle down. As the beast began to fall an explosion eminated from it's back just missing Ellena who had disabled it's arm by stabbing the weakspot. The explosion came from a Mochina Navy Warship firing it's Balistae with explosive bolts, on the ship Titan and Axel were leading the assualt. Using Titan's magic they reached the island \and joined the group. "Sorry we're late...The patrol went on alittle longer than expected..." Said Axel as his lit a cigarette. "So what we miss?" "The usual....Fate of an island, kick ass and so on." said Markus as Ellena landed next to them. Ray kept his guard up, not trusting the new people that just arrived, but this time he was able to keep himself under control and didn't go head first to attack the person. "Relax kid....These are the other two members of my team....Titan the Titan Magic master and Axel the one man band mage. They were doing a job when we left.....Now they're here we can finish this!" Said Markus as he restarted his Burning Storm Mode. "I'll need cover though to use a special spell i've ben saving up." "Bringing heaven and hell together boss?" Asked Titan who activated his magic. "Of course....." Smirked Markus as he entered Burning Phoenix Force Mode and began charging his fist with fire and lightning causing a huge amount of magic to fill the area around the team. "I'll need you guys to stop any counters....." "Of course!" Said Axel as he summoned a guitar and strummed the strings. "I'll rock this!" Before they could attack, the sounds of footsteps could be heard as the group turned around to find Adrian with his group coming towards them. "What did we miss?" Adrian asked loading his guns as he saw the Drake roaring again as it attempted to get up. "Just in time...." Said Markus as he continued to focus his spell. "Deal with any counters i'm gonna finish this Ash Eater now...." "This is gonna be intresting....You've been boasting about this each night since you started workin on it last week." Said Ellena as she drew her sword. "Oh is that all you've been up to?" Smirked Axel who swiftly received a punch from Freyja. "Perv...." Scoffed Freyja as she flexed her figners. "Focus on this fight will ya?" Adrian glared at Ray once more, but decided to keep his focus on the task at hand, after loading his bullets he sent out multiple light shots, causing Drake to be blinded. Ray added in his Nova Sphere attack as it impacted greatly on Drake's chest, causing misdirection of his attacks on the group. "Guys gather up!!" Shouted Markus as he prepared himself for the charge. "Get ready to counter his attacks....I can take afew thanks to a passive shield this spell makes but i need your to deal with the big hits!" The group nooded and gathered around him as he charged forward. Titan, Ellena, Axel and Freyja began to counter the flying rubble and Drake Breath. One of Drake's breath aimed right at Adrian, which he quickly dodged by jumping out of the way, but found his leg to have been broken from some of the crushed debris that had fallen down on him. Drake saw this and quickly blew out another blast, heading right towards him. Frejya saw what happened and desperetly ran to protect him, but the blast hit as she screamed out his name, dropping to the floor with tears. However, she felt someone standing next to her and saw Ray carrying him on his back, slowly dropping him as Frejya hugged him tightly. "You... you helped me.." was all Adrian could say before Ray went back on the offensive, sending a big flashbang to distract Drake yet again. Markus reached the Drake landing a Sky Kick technique to send the Drake up, he then lept up and drove his lightning and fire coated fist into it's chest causing a huge white blast to erupt from it's back. "Fear the fury of heaven and hell...." He said as he landed on the ground and the Drake's flesh starting to reduce to ash leaving only the bone and a crimson coloured scale. "Someone grab the horn and that scale...We'll present those for the reward and head home to celebrate." "Wow....That technique was......Just wow....." Said Axel shocked nearly dropping his guitar. "How'd you make that?" "Ya know my Heaven Fist spell?" Asked Markus to which Axel nodded in reply. "It's the Burning Storm version of it....The fire increases the spells power and causes some serious damage." "What about the drake?" Asked Titan as he ripped off the horn. "I take it this was normal?" "Yep a drake's flesh turns to ash when they die and then it's young or other drake come and eat the ash....Hence their nickname "The Ash Eating Demon".....It's also why they burn down villages and burn anyone they meet to ash." Said Markus as he picked up the crimson scale. Ray took in a deep breath, letting his Immersion calm down as he walked over to Markus, "So, this is a normal day for you guys?" "Actually this was a tough day....We normally finish before lunch...." Said Markus with a smile. "Thats a joke by the way but it seems like it all the jobs we've gotten recently that could be for a S-Class Mage are more like regular jobs..." "Yeah it's been kinda dull....Good to know there till something that can put up a fight." Said Ellena as she rubbed her shoulder. "Good to thing the Navy showedup to help!" Markus handed the two items over and took the reward before showing it to the team. "Well sort out eachothers cut when we get to the boat." He said as he walked to the now ruined dock. "We'll let the Army know about the attack...They'll be by to fix the palce up!" The people cheered and thanked the group as they left on their way home. Markus divided the money between them 910,000 to himself, Ellena, Titan, Axel, Adrian and Freyja. he gave the extra 900k he got to Ray as a thanks for helping them. "I... I can't accept this..." Ray started to say, but was hit upside the head by Adrian as they all groaned at him still being mad. "Of course you can accept that dude" He said causing everyone, especially Ray to look at him with shock on their faces, surprising the new people with them. "You showed us today that you're a good person, what's more, you saved me, you're okay Ray" He said with a smile as he and Ray shook hands while Frejya giggled and kissed him on the cheek while supporting his weight on her arm. "Keep it....We don't need to stock pile money for awhile so we can give any bonuses to you.....Besides you'll need some money on your journey right?" Said Markus as he lent back on a rolled up set of mats. "Besides your an honourary member of our guild now....We help our own." "He's right....We look after our family." said Titan openning a bottle of sake. "It's one of our iconic magics." Ray looked around, seeing all the agreeing faces which made him grin widely for the first time since his travels as he nodded and took a cup that Titan offered him. "Thank you all". "Ok any bets on how many cups of my famous Devil's Blood Sake the kid cna drink before passing out?!" Said Titan holding up 2,000 Jewels. "I bet 4!" "1....." Said Markus as he holds up 4,000 Jewels. "I can barely handle 2...." "5!" Said Ellena holding up 50 Jewels. "I'm playing it safe just in case i'm wrong!" "3!" Said Axel and Freyja both holding up 1,500 Jewels. "I'll say 6 cups, but I don't want the money, I want..." Adrian moved closer to Frejya's ear as he whispered something in her ear, making her blush bright red, causing the others to look at them with confusion. Markus could guess at what Adrian was after and sighed. watching Ray as he downed 6 cups without flinching while titan was out cold by 3. "Well he beat Titan's record.....Hmmm i got an idea, someone give me a pen...." He said with an evil grin. He took a pen from a near by sailor and drew on Titan's face waiting for him to wake up. I'm an artistic genius!" "He's gonna be really angry at you later Markus...." Said Ellena trying not to burt out with laughter. "Though i like the monicle....It's a nice touch." Ray began to laugh at his new friends behavior, making he feel happy for the first time since his journey began as everyone could feel the peaceful aura around him. After some time of enjoying their victory, the group headed back to the guild as Frejya with Ray's help took Adrian to the medical wing to check on how his leg is. Titan was busy chasing arkus for drawing on his face. Titan's agility pales in comparrison to Markus' so he failed in catching him. "Come on Titan was only a joke!!" Said Markus as he sat on top of the guild hall. "Still! I don't like jokes!!!" Shouted Titan as he tried to reach him. Reaching their destination, the doctor began to look over Adrian while both Frejya and Ray waited outside,"I hope he'll be okay" Ray said as he looked at Frejya. "He'll be fine!" Smiled Freyja as she sat next to the door "I think we did rather well on this job....Apart form Adrian getting his leg injured." Freyja then reached into the near by chest of draws and took out a blue apple. "I believe so too, though I still feel bad for having hurt you" Ray replied sighing and slouching in his seat. "Oh by the wings.....Will you relax! I'm perfectly fine....No harm no foul." She sighed taking a bite out the apple. "I've had alot worse in my life.....Near had my arm taken off while i was a Rune Knight." She points to a scar on her shoulder. Ray smiled as the two began talking about random stuff, but stopped when the doctor came out with a chart in hand as they both stood up. "So how is he doctor?" Ray asked. "He'll be fine...Some bed rest and a cast on his leg." Said the Doctor. "He's got a broke leg so roughly a month in a cast will fix it....It's only a minor break." They both sighed in relief as the doctor told them they could go in to see him, and apon entering, they find Adrian already trying to stand up on crutches. "Didn't the doctor just tell you that sleep is needed?" Ray asked as Adrian scoffed at his remark, quickly moving over to Frejya and kissing her on the lips. "I already got my medicine right here" He replied with a smile. Meanwhile Markus has managed to avoid Titan and gone to the Palace to talk to the King and Minister of Defence about the situation on Blackwood Island. "So whats happening with Daimon?" Ask Markus as he climbed through one of the open windows. "I'm guessing it's bad news." "He's moved two divisions to the northern coast of Bitana Island....." Said the Minister of Defence. "We need to figure out how we can help out...." "Yeah Bitana Island is past the Demon's Fangs.....One of the hardest set of rocks to navigate." Said Markus leaning against a column. "This is mildly awkward.....We could loose a good ally...." Markus left returning to the Guild to talk with sensei. When he arrived he saw Adrian walking around with a large cast around his broken leg. "You should be resting...." He said as he loomed over Adrian. "Make sure you get some later." "I'll make sure he does Markus!" Smiled Freyja as she handed Adrian some ramen. "Even if i ahve to knock him out and tie him down." "Hey, don't forget you still owe since I won the bet" Adrian said slurping his ramen as Frejya quickly blushed and went to her own food. "What was the reward exactly?" Ray wondered as he was a bit confused. "Trust me you don't wanna know...." Said both Markus and Freyja at the same time both laughing after. "Kid when you find someone you might understand." Smiled Ellena who arrived and kissed Markus on the cheek. "Trust me on that." Ray simply shrugged it off and began to eat quite quickly as another bowl was brought to his table every few minutes, which shocked his friends a bit. "Damn, are you at least chewing?" Adrian asked as Ray nodded and continued back to his food. "Well atleast we know he's hungry....Unless he hasn't eaten in awhile...." Said Markus not really shocked at the amount or speed as he can eat like that as well. "Ohhh you two so need an eating contest!" Smiled Ellena as she nudged Markus "Would be fun to watch." "Next time...." Said Markus as he nudged back knocking Ellena off his lap. Finishing his food, he placed the empty bowl on top of the others, taking in a deep breath and stretching, "My family often has big meals, as hunters we have grown to require quite a bit of nutrients" Ray replied with a smile on his face. "Only other person I ever saw wolf down that much food was Markus" Adrian replied putting his arm around Frejya and bringing her closer to him. At that moment a young woman roughly around Ray's age walks up to him and hands him a traditional "Dating Present". "H-here!" She said before running off going bright red in teh face. "Hmmmm Becca seems to like Ray alot....." Said Ellena as she gave Ray a cheeky smile "You should persue that Ray.....She's a nice girl....Far too shy for her own good but a nice girl." Ray looked at the running girl then back at the present that was in his hands, it was a mystery to him why she gave him this present, no one in his life gave him presents until today. However, ignoring the feeling of confusion, he slowly opened the gift and found it to be a headband, making him blush a bit. "Well, that's an interesting gift she decided to give" Adrian said with a smile. "On Mochina Island if someone wants to ask another person out on a date they give them an important item they hold dear to their heart. If you return it you accept the offer and will date them....." Said Markus as he sipped his drink. "It's an old tradition that goes back over 600 years. It actually comes from how the Phoenixes find mates....." "Interesting..." Ray thought to himself as he went by himself to look for the girl that gave him the present. "Was I that dumbstruck when we met?" Adrian asked Frejya. "Sorta....You were kinda withfrawn for abit...." She said thinking back. "You weren't this confused though...." "You should go for it Ray.....Will give you a chance to break away from your past jsut that bit more....And will help you find someone to be close to." Said Markus as he got up. "Well i've got a class to teach....One of the magic schools is clsoed for reapirs after a fire and i've been asked to take over one of the classes for abit." Markus left and went to the outside training area where a group of kids waited. Back int eh hall Freyja look at the door. "So who wants to watch some kids try some magic?" She said with a smile. Adrian raised his hand and was helped outside with Frejya as they went to begin teaching the class on magic and what it can do. Meanwhile Ray kept running through the guild, trying to find the girl that gave him the headband as he eventually made his way to the library, seeing Becca in the far back, reading her books. "Excuse me, Becca?" He asked. Becca let out a yelp of surprise before noticing Ray and hiding behind the book she was currently reading. "Y-yes?" She said with a tremble in her voice. "There's no need to be scared of me" Ray said slowly making his way to Becca and making sure that he didn't scare her, "I just wanted to say thank you for the the headband, I really enjoy it" He said showing that he tied his hair together into a ponytail with it. "Also, why exactly did you give it to me of all people?" She shrugged still hiding behind the book. "I-i don't know....." She froze in a literal sense, she had used her magic to turn to ice. "She does that when she's embarissed....." Said one of the near by mages. "She can from a terrible home....She was a slave as a young girl and was constantly beaten for her lack of cordination.....Now she's scared of almost anyone except Markus, Ellena and Zero who saved her from that place.....And wiped out the people who beat her." The mage's face went dark as did many sitting near by. "We don't tolerate those actions on the island or anywhere." Said another. "Thats why we take in people like her daily and help them break away from their past." "We hope you cna help her kid...." Said the first mage to Ray. "She needs someone to show her some form of love beyond the sibling love the bosses show...." Eventually Becca thawed out of her ice form still nervous but mroe willing to show her face from behind the book. She looked at Ray and forced a nervous smile. Ray saw the look in her eyes, a look he once saw when he was younger, making him smile a bit as he slowly made his way to her, sitting in front of her, and taking the book from her hand. "There's no reason to be afraid of me, I know i showed a side of me that might have frighten you, but I am a good person when given the chance" he said with a kind smile on his face. "I-i know....I'm just nervous alot of the time......" She said looking down. "I grew up a slave on an island where the tribes were constantly fighting....I've seen much worse than what you did...." He slowly moved his hand over her hand and smiled, "I heard from Markus about the tradition, so would you be interested in joining me for dinner?" Ray asked. Becca went bright red and nodded not saying a word. She got up and followed Ray to the kitchen to pick out the meal they would eat. The other mages around them smiled at what Ray did. "Why isn't that guy a member again?" One of the mages asked another next to him. "He's an honorary member...." Said the other. "Thats good enough." After a while of checking everything and finally ordering, Ray is seen with Becca in one of the tables as she continued to be nervous while Ray simply looked at her. "You know, this headband is something I might treasure for sometime, it's actually the first present I've ever had". "R-really?....The first gift i got was not getting beaten when i knocked something over or dropped something...." Said Becca as she held back the tears of sorrow and hate. "I'm glad i found this place.....Its fun despite the odd arguements or fights these guys have...." Meanwhile Markus had finished his class and brought the kids into the hall for a tour. The kids ran around talking to everyone including Becca and Ray. Ray smiled and talked with the kids a bit before they went running somewhere else, he looked over to see Becca blushing again as she hid behind the menu. "You know, not everyone was like the people that hurt you, believe me I know what you're going through" He said with a kind smile. "I-i know that....It's just hard to get over what happened.....I was there for 8 years before Markus found me." Said Becca putting the menu down. "After that day i've stayed here to someday pay him back." On the second floor balcony Markus watched the room taking an intrest in Becca and Ray. He smiled and vanished off to some unknown location. Meanwhile the food Ray and Becca ordered had arrived and they began to eat. Becca ordered sweet and sour beef noodles with pork ramen as a starter. Ray broke his chop sticks and began to eat his food normally, in his mind he knew that normally he would eat as much as he can, but being in the pressence of Becca, something stirred in him and he began to eat slowly this time, trying hard not to swallow quickly. "I'm sure he doesn't care about stuff like that" He said with a smile. "I know....But i still want to pay him back and the guild for his kindess." She said after eating a large mouthfull of ramen. "So what brought you here? If you don't mind me asking that is....." "After leaving my clan, I decided to travel the world in order to find my true path in life, so far it hasn't been an easy task with what I was born with" Ray replied finishing his first bowl and asking for another one. "Wow.....Thats rough i guess....." She said slightly frozen by the infomation. "I'm still trying to find out about my family,....I haven't found out much though...." Ray smiled and placed his bowl down, putting her hands over her's, "Then it looks like we have something in comoon" He replied with a sincere smile. "Yes we do!" Becca smield back which shocked many of the other mages having never seen her genuinly smile at all. The day went on as usual small disputes amoung the guild members followed by partying. a great deal of money came in as well from returning mages finishing some big jobs. Though things would change later on..... Category:Phantombeast Category:Yaminogaijin Category:Roleplay Category:Storyline